Ford tried to save our manufacturing plants: Mullaly

[Gadgetman]

Originally Posted by DanielXR8

So they went ahead and certified and engineered the VF for the the US market as part of a Holden propaganda campaign aimed at no one for no particular reason, with the goal of making no sales.

I didn't get that from Holdens export plans, but each to their own.

Well done Daniel, Lets see if the numbers of Export commodores of the current variety performs better than the dismal numbers did for the previous model.

[Gadgetman]

Originally Posted by monte.b

Why put it in laymens terms ,most here can read and most are not stupid so there is no need to belittle us by saying that thanks ,but i agree every govement since and including whitlam has been dead set on stuffing our manufacturing base and they have done a very good job at it

My apologies if the context in which my comments made in a previous post left you with the feeling that you're somewhat lacking intelligence.

[Gadgetman]

Originally Posted by Joe5619

And neglible numbers in the US, add real volume numbers to an Australian production lines!!


JPD80: I thought Deveraux is on record as saiding they'd like the dollar at 90 cents not too long ago??

needs to add reasonable volume Joe.

[Joe5619]

Originally Posted by Gadgetman

needs to add reasonable volume Joe.

What is your approx number for "reasonable volume"?

[Kable72]

Originally Posted by Gadgetman

My apologies if the context in which my comments made in a previous post left you with the feeling that you're somewhat lacking intelligence.

Personal insults will not get you far.

[Gadgetman]

Originally Posted by Kable72

Personal insults will not get you far.

I suppose you can read into things in numerous ways.

[Gadgetman]

Originally Posted by Joe5619

What is your approx number for "reasonable volume"?

The best year of sales was 2009 before GM decided to suspend the Brand.
Total numbers for the year was 23000 units. That is less than 2000 units per month. When you take into account total numbers the U.S Market is good for, 2000 units of anything is ordinary. But to add fuel to the fire, think about how much the cost per unit is for developing LHD when you only build 2000 units per month. Ohh but that's right, in the last 10 years GM Holden has received nealy 60% more government funding than Ford Aust so I guess that that would cover the LHD development.

On a separate issue, the way Holden have handed the winding down of local manufacturing is really ****ing me off. They will blame all and sundries for their demise.

[janddbone]

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior

Cars from Thailand have no tariff at all.

I had not realised this, very disappointing arrangement.

[MyAU1]

Originally Posted by Nikked

What are these "organizations" you speek of? No use making a claim without substance...

Ranger isn't sold in the US because it is to similar to the F-series...and it woild have to built there as there is a prohibitive tax on imports that are in the same segment as a US manufactured product.

The Ford Ranger was designed and sold in the US until the end of 2012 when they dropped it.

If they can't handle being driven hard, why advertise their "Toughness". What "organisations" in this country 'drive' their vehicles hard? Firstly you can rule out Local Councils.

MYAU1

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by Gadgetman

The best year of sales was 2009 before GM decided to suspend the Brand.
Total numbers for the year was 23000 units. That is less than 2000 units per month. When you take into account total numbers the U.S Market is good for, 2000 units of anything is ordinary. But to add fuel to the fire, think about how much the cost per unit is for developing LHD when you only build 2000 units per month. Ohh but that's right, in the last 10 years GM Holden has received nealy 60% more government funding than Ford Aust so I guess that that would cover the LHD development.

On a separate issue, the way Holden have handed the winding down of local manufacturing is really ****ing me off. They will blame all and sundries for their demise.

GM has already said they expect to sell around 5000 Chev SS's a year in the US. So the volumes are bugger all really. Nowhere near what they were selling of the Pontiac G8 and GTO.

But when you see the price they are selling them for, and have a look what other cars you can buy for the same price and it's no wonder they don't plan on selling many. Makes me wonder if the investment required to get it over there as the Chevy SS is even worth the bother at those low volumes.

[Nikked]

Originally Posted by MyAU1

The Ford Ranger was designed and sold in the US until the end of 2012 when they dropped it.

Yes, and it was build there...not imported...

[jpd80]

Ford got rid of the Ranger in the USA because most buyers were purchasing the Truck because
it was cheap at $16,000 starting price and also relatively cheap to run with a 2.5 I-4, most buyers
weren't buying them because they were trucks, so Ford tried to convert as many buyers as possible
to other vehicles like SUVs, Transit Connect or Fiesta.

Ford's greater plan to get rid of its "Body on Frame" trio of Explorer, Crown Victoria and Ranger
meant it could close three plants, reduce production capacity and convert as many buyers as
possible to other products. The savings from closure and not those renewing products
meant Ford saved a fortune even before it converted any customers.

The other point is internal competition:
You only have to look at Toyota in the USA, sure they kept the Tacoma mid sized truck but
they evolved it like Toyota did with the Hilux for the rest of the world, there's no money in separate platforms.
Even though Tacoma sells around 12,000 or 13,000 per motn there, it is the belief of critics that the Tacoma
fill the need so well it converts many would be Tundra buyers and really hurts the big trucks sales.

Ford won't risk any internal competition to its F150, that truck is essential to USA's major league profits.

[MyAU1]

[QUOTE=WILDB;4853431]You might also want to do a bit more research, because the Ranger which was sold in the US was not the same as the Ranger we have been getting - it was a yank assembled vehicle with a completely different design, style, chassis and running gear.

Just like comparing the European Focus MK2 to the American Focus MK2 - name shared but nothing else.

I work as the maintenance coordinator for a fleet of 1000 assets, a considerable number of our utes are Rangers, but we have some Hiluxs, Colorados and Tritons as well - the Rangers are the most reliable out of all of them, as well as the ones that the drivers least complain about.

Similarly the local council has approAttachment 79560ximately 400 Rangers, a lot of them get driven quite hard - they have minimal issues.

Found it interesting you picked images from 2010. Here are some more pics of both the US and OZ Rangers. Check out the Ford Australia website and have a look at the cabin. Now check out the image uploaded from the US. Are they not the same?


OZ Ranger 2.jpeg

Ford Australia

Cabin USA Ranger-01.jpg

Ford USA

USA Ranger 2-01.jpg

Ford USA

USA Ranger-01.jpg

Ford USA

[jpd80]

No T6 Ranger is sold in the USA or advertised for sale on Ford USA's showroom website.


This is the truck it sold until 2012:

[MyAU1]

Originally Posted by jpd80

No T6 Ranger is sold in the USA or advertised for sale on Ford USA's showroom website.


This is the truck it sold until 2012:

image

This shape looks very much like a Ford Courier, which were around prior to the Ranger! If you check US websites the Ranger has been around for over 10 years, with people wanting it back. The above images were obtained from American websites. Last year the Ranger Wildtrack was available from Ford US.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by MyAU1

This shape looks very much like a Ford Courier, which were around prior to the Ranger!

Completely unrelated to the Mazda Truck we called Courier and then Ranger.

If you check US websites the Ranger has been around for over 10 years, with people wanting it back. The above images were obtained from American websites. Last year the Ranger Wildtrack was available from Ford US.

I think you'll find that any T6 Rangers in the USA would be private imports form possibly near by Mexico..

Ranger has been sold in the USA for lot longer than that but was at its peak in the early 2000s
when sales were over 350,000 a year but Mid Sized trucks are now a shadow of those days,
it's not worth Ford re entering the market when it can get a better return for the funding in some
other products like SUVs - are you going to pull funding from to resurrect Ranger?

[Nikked]

Originally Posted by MyAU1

This shape looks very much like a Ford Courier, which were around prior to the Ranger! If you check US websites the Ranger has been around for over 10 years, with people wanting it back. The above images were obtained from American websites. Last year the Ranger Wildtrack was available from Ford US.

You need to read!


The T6 is the current Ranger in production, prior to that, outside America most markets sold a badged engineered Ranger based of the Mazda B-series, with Australia badging them as 'Courier', until 2006 (IIRC) when it became the Ranger.



The US ford ranger was similar, on the outside, but was engineered and built by Ford Us, this time Mazda rebadge them as there own.


Ford US ranger is different from the Japanese Mazda sourced B-series/BT-50.


No T6 Ranger has been sold in the USA, no wildtrack, the T6 is too big, its too similar to the F-150.

[Buntz]

Originally Posted by NX74205

Problem with imposing a blanket tarriff on imported cars is that Australia doesn't make enough cars to cover every segment on the market, so there are bound to be gaps that need to be filled in by imports. People shouldn't be forced to pay more because their needs in a car is not fulfilled by an Australian made alternative.

You seem to think in limited terms old chap. Had we been dedicated to protect our industry 20-30-40 years ago... then we may have been building more models today, and have vast capacity.

Originally Posted by jpd80

Ford won't risk any internal competition to its F150, that truck is essential to USA's major league profits.

It's also a pride thing, and advertising thing. Ford love being able to boast that the F-Truck is the best selling in the US for years running. Can't have some Aussie designed, Thai built thing being more capable and efficient taking that sales crown away.

[NX74205]

Originally Posted by Buntz

You seem to think in limited terms old chap. Had we been dedicated to protect our industry 20-30-40 years ago... then we may have been building more models today, and have vast capacity.

I agree, but that didn't happen. I remember when Ford use to build the Laser here, and Toyota used to build the Corolla here. But the government decided that the tarriffs on imported cars were to be reduced in order to even up the playing field and force local manufacturers to improve to compete with imports.

There's no point crying over spilt milk.

[WILDB]

Originally Posted by MyAU1

Found it interesting you picked images from 2010. Here are some more pics of both the US and OZ Rangers. Check out the Ford Australia website and have a look at the cabin. Now check out the image uploaded from the US. Are they not the same?


Attachment 79559

Ford Australia

Attachment 79561

Ford USA

Attachment 79562

Ford USA

Attachment 79563

Ford USA

Have a read of these articles:

1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Ranger_(T6)

This quote is of particular interest:

The Ford Ranger, code named T6, was unveiled at the Australian International Motor Show in Sydney. The T6 replaces two regional Ranger platforms: the Mazda BT-50-derived model sold in the Latin America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific regions and the North American model sold in select Latin American markets.

Although the T6 Ranger is offered in 180 markets globally, it is not currently planned to be sold in the United States or Canada

2: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Ranger

The Ford Ranger is a nameplate that has been used on two distinct model lines of pickup trucks sold by the Ford Motor Company, a version sold in North America and later parts of South America, as well as a separate model sold internationally.